Be at peace
by rezakeene
Summary: She used to meet him by the beach every week. The only condition was, he was never to be seen. He always remained in the shadows. WARNING : Major character death


A/N : Everything related to Harry Potter belongs to J. K . Rowling.

* * *

Be at peace

She was sitting on one of the larger boulders on the beach. Her bare feet were dangling. The chilly night air didn't affect her anymore. It stopped freezing her insides not long after the war had started. The tickling waves didn't disturb her concentration or the gentle hum of the sea. But when a stray breeze touched her skin, she sprung back in anticipation.

He came like a whisper in the night. As a shadow he rose only at nights to surround her. She turned her neck to see him, but never saw him. He always remained in the dark. That was the deal between them. She must not see him. But they were desperate and they needed information.

"Granger, waiting for me", a drawling voice penetrated her overly constructed mind.

"Malfoy, you are late", she turned to the direction the voice came from.

"Unlike you, I have a lot of assignments", the voice echoed from a distance.

Hermione resigned and turned to the sea. "What have you got for me this time?"

There was a still silence for a while. Then he let out a small chuckle. "Do you like the sea, Granger?"

"Malfoy! You are wasting my time. You promised information every week. And this is the second time, you are talking about sea", her restlessness resounding in her words.

"Such impatience Granger. I need to punish you for that. Don't you gryffindors know that fortune comes to those who wait", he gently admonished.

Hermione sighed. Lately this had been his pattern. Small talk, that's what he called their small chat. How many times she tried to divert, he came to their so-called small talk. She waited patiently for their usual banter to run its course. She complied using some of her own quips.

"Tomorrow, the darklord is going on another fruitless hunt with most of his followers. Hogwarts will be vulnerable from 11 PM to 12 AM." He said and vanished from the place with a whoosh.

Hermione was about to ask, how was he able to manage to lie to him, but he always managed to escape before their discussion got to that part. She recorded that information in her. Now the part that was left was to pass the information to Harry. And then come back here next week to get more from Draco.

Hermione knew that Harry would be successful this time to retrieve the last mysterious horcrux of Ravenclaw from Hogwarts and he didn't disappoint her. When Hermione met Draco, she thanked his invisible form. He let out a throaty laugh that made her nervous. "Don't yet thank me Granger, that bastard's still alive". This was not the first time she thanked and that definitely was not the first time he dismissed that. But what followed that was definitely new for her.

"I suppose so", mused Hermione.

"The sea looks different today. What do you say Granger?"

She turned to the sea and noticed that, it was unusually calm. "Yes, it is serene. It seems to be at peace".

"Do you reckon would it be possible for us to achieve that"?

"What?" Hermione asked not exactly following what he was saying.

"Peace", the voice hummed.

"It doesn't look like peace to me. It looks more like calm before storm." She corrected his sentiment.

"Always the pragmatist. Tell me Granger, can you ever be that peaceful", he started again.

"Yes of course. I promised myself that I wouldn't leave Harry's side until Voldemort was not put 6 feet under. I can be at peace immediately after that." She stated quite confidently. She contemplated whether to ask or not, "What about you?"

"Never. I don't have that luxury", he said and then Hermione heard the familiar whoosh signaling his dismissal. Hermione sighed another meeting gone waste without any information. There was nothing to pass onto Harry.

She waited in the same spot next week, but he didn't come. She stayed there for the whole night. It was just the sea, the chilling breeze and her. She went back before the first light of dawn colored the morning sky. She promptly returned there the next week and the one after. He didn't surface either time. But Hermione's conscience dragged her there, to wait for him. She waited without giving up hope. Her addled mind harbored a hundred doubts. But he was the only single light thread that held her slowly deteriorating hope. So she came there without fail.

It was not after 2 months she smiled when she felt that familiar yet strange breeze. She knew that he was there without even turning back.

"You are alright". Hermione gently revealed her mind.

"I have been better", he declared.

"Did Voldemort know about our meetings, Draco?" Her concern for his well being made the vulnerable side in her brought forward. She didn't realize she called him Draco.

"I guess you don't need to worry about that. You are all taken care of", spat Draco.

"Good then, Are you here to talk about Sea again"? Hermione asked gesturing to the sea. Her annoyance was guiding her words.

But instead of a scathing remark she met with silence. "Is the golden boy up to the task?" He asked with somewhat resignation.

"Why do you ask?"

"Because I don't want to miss an opportunity."

Hermione stayed mute. She knew Harry was more than ready. He had been ready for quite sometime. What he missed was a good opportunity. And Draco was talking about the same opportunity.

"Yes Harry is ready".

"Good, because this is the last time I am going to meet you. I cannot after that. But I can provide a window for the chosen one. All the horcruxes are destroyed now and darklord is vulnerable".

Hermione nodded not sure whether he would be able to see her or not. But he didn't miss her surreptitious nod. "Good, he will be walking alone in one of the alcoves of Astronomy tower and I can get Potter there, well before that."

"That would work." Hermione was beaming in happiness.

"Yes indeed. Pass that information would you?"

Hermione was waiting for the familiar whoosh that signaled his dismissal, but it didn't come. Then he spoke in a surreal voice, "Be at peace Hermione". And then he vanished.

She smiled. Finally a hope had blossomed to vanquish the dark lord from this world. All their friends could finally live in peace. With a beautiful smile she tucked the information that had to be passed on to Harry. Yes indeed she can be at peace finally.

* * *

Draco Malfoy was waiting there on one of the cobblestones in the graveyard. He knew they would be coming here. He may not guess what exactly went in the twisted mind of the darklord but he was sure Harry Potter and Ron Weasley would definitely be here, the next moment darklord was defeated.

Not to disappoint him he heard their heavy steps, crunching the leaves and dirt on the ground. He moved behind a headstone shielding himself from their view. They stopped in front of a carved headstone somewhere in the front of the graveyard. Draco saw a small note that Potter took it out of his pocket. His green eyes were swirling with tears as his friend pulled him together in a manly hug.

"She had been always with us." His ginger haired friend spoke in a choked voice.

Draco careened to get a look at the parchment Potter was holding. There was something written in a very elegant handwriting. Potter took his wand and moved the parchment to the headstone and made it stick to the stone with a permanent sticking spell.

They both stayed there for sometime and spoke many things about the battle that ensued last night. Potter explained word to word how they had destroyed each and everyone responsible for this war. They cried, they laughed and finally were able to say goodbye. A gentle breeze greeted them and rustled their hair. They slowly walked to the exit with a closure.

Draco moved to that place when he made sure Potter and Weasley left. His heart clenched and his eyes watered as he took in the name in the headstone. Then his eyes fell on the many parchments that were struck to the headstone. Draco started reading one by one.

Each one contained the information that he had passed on to Hermione Granger. He took in her elegant calligraphy and reverently ran his fingers over them. As his fingers took in the details of the script his mind ran to that fateful night when Hermione Granger was brutally murdered in front of his eyes, two years back. He was haunted by those images for several nights. He used to apparate to the beach to gain a semblance of sanity.

When her spirit visited him there he ran like a mad man. But she did not give up. All she wanted was to help Potter. In the beginning he was terrified and slowly he came up with rules and observed her from shadows. He slowly passed on tidbits of information. And that's how their tentative friendship formed. He confided in her and she consoled him in her own way. But she didn't know how deep his emotions ran. She didn't know that in the process he lost his heart to the strong, loyal and ethereal Hermione Granger. He lost his heart to the one being he was sure would never return his feelings. Draco Malfoy had fallen in love with a ghost.

The gentle breeze that rustled Potter and Weasley before, tickled him this time. He smiled as he looked at the carvings on the head stone. "Hermione Granger, warrior, dearest friend and a loving daughter". Underneath that words were written in beautiful italics, "Love, Friendship, Knowledge have no bounds. They run deeper than oceans and higher than skies". He bent and kissed the ground before her grave.

"Be at peace, my love". With that he turned and never looked back.


End file.
